Increasing the Academic and Career Success of Alaska Native and Rural Students in Science and Math

该项目将通过增加阿拉斯加东南大学对有学术才能的低收入农村和阿拉斯加土著学生的招聘、保留和毕业，解决全国对熟练科学家和数学家的需求。为此，该项目将向22名攻读生物学、海洋生物学、渔业、环境科学或数学学士学位的本科生提供奖学金。第一年的奖学金获得者将获得最多四年的奖学金支持，转学奖学金获得者将获得最多两年的奖学金支持。所有学者将与教师导师合作制定个人发展计划（IDP）。该计划将作为学者学术和职业规划的蓝图。此外，第一年的学者将参加一个以学术技能建设和职业发展为重点的第一年研讨会，这有望增加他们的学术成功。该项目还计划改善学者对学生支持服务的使用，预计这一变化将提高他们的STEM学位完成率和职业成功。该项目的总体目标是提高有经济需求的低收入、高成就本科生的STEM学位完成率。该项目的具体目标是：(1)提高STEM学生的第一年留校率和毕业率；(2)增加STEM学生参与高影响力的劳动力发展活动；(3)实施、调整和研究IDP，将其作为一项可持续战略，以提高低收入、有学术天赋的STEM学生的成功。该项目将使用IDP作为工具：(1)帮助学者表达，计划和监控学术进展，以实现学术和职业目标；(2)支持学者向学校过渡；(3)促进结构化教师指导；(4)促进学者使用学术和社会支持服务；(5)将用人单位纳入职业生涯规划；(6)开展相应的课外活动，以支持学者的成功。该项目的研究议程探讨职业决策自我效能作为个人发展规划的关键组成部分。从研究和评估活动中收集的数据将用于提高机构在资助期间和之后为阿拉斯加土著和农村学生提供服务的能力。该项目由美国国家科学基金会的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，旨在增加在STEM领域获得学位的低收入学术天才学生的数量。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并为低收入学生提供有关学业成功、留校、转学、毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will address the national need for skilled scientists and mathematicians by increasing the recruitment, retention, and graduation of academically talented, low-income rural and Alaska Native students at the University of Alaska Southeast. To this end, the project will provide scholarships to 22 undergraduates pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Biology, Marine Biology, Fisheries, Environmental Science, or Mathematics. First-year Scholars will receive up to four years of scholarship support and transfer Scholars will receive up to two years of scholarship support. All Scholars will create an Individual Development Plan (IDP) in partnership with a faculty mentor. This plan will serve as a blueprint for the Scholars’ academic and career planning. In addition, first-year Scholars will attend a first-year seminar focused on academic skill building and career development, which is expected to increase their academic success. The program also plans to improve Scholars’ use of student support services, anticipating that this change will increase their STEM degree completion and career success. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project’s specific aims are to: (1) increase first-year retention and graduation of STEM students; (2) increase STEM student participation in high-impact workforce development activities; and (3) implement, adapt, and study the IDP as a sustainable strategy to increase the success of low-income, academically talent STEM students. This project will use an IDP as a tool to: (1) help Scholars articulate, plan for, and monitor academic progress towards academic and career goals; (2) support Scholars’ transitions to the university; (3) facilitate structured faculty mentoring; (4) catalyze Scholars’ use of academic and social support services; (5) include employers in career planning; and (6) develop responsive co-curricular activities to support Scholar success. The project’s research agenda explores career decision self-efficacy as a critical component of individual development planning. Data collected from the research and evaluation activities will be used to improve institutional capacity to serve Alaska Native and rural students during and after the funding period. This project is funded by NSF’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.